Small footprint, clean sound, bi-amp capability

The carpet spikes/hardware to raise the speaker off the ground are pretty bad if you have hard floors, putting the spike into a small rubber/metal piece is not workable.

This review is for the AR STature S40 speaker systems. I was skeptical when bidding on ubid, wondering if stock was old, damaged, or rejects. I read the reviews here and saw several people had same concerns. WELL, these speakers are awesome! They are clean and tight, broke in over the first couple days. Solid bass, clean highs, good definition in middle range. I listen to piano music on CD regularly and the sound is great. I just wired the spkrs to use the bi-amp capability last night. WHOA! they sound even better. I need to experiment with some of the DVD''s to hear the detail, but I would strongly suggest that any S40 owners get them bi-amped for best performance. You won''t be disappointed and hey, wire is cheap, right? There have been comments on this board about ubid''s lack of performance. My experience with them was businesslike, item was shipped within 2 days of close of auction and I tracked it through UPS.com. The shipping charges are a bit high, but overall the deal was fine.

$$, mids

imposingly tall, lacking in bass

Almost moot now that these are discontinued, but here''s my review. I agree with many of the opinions stated here. This speaker has a lot going for it. Strength is definitely in the mids. Great imaging and soundstage. Well-built and not too expensive, these really do go far for the price. Ah, but these things are rather obtrusive, tall even without the spikes. And I have to add my $0.02 on the bass. I find it to be lacking! Sub seems to be a must. It''s like headphone bass kind of- the sound is there but the kick/force/effect isn''t? Really notice it with techno/dance music. In the past, with an Audiosource 15, Klipsh KSW 12, and even the AR 318s, the right music would make me want to get up and dance. Other music could make you think the world was coming to an end, like the intro to Floyd''s Speak to Me/Breath. Not with these. already picking a sub... which while fun, I''d still rather not. Make no mistake, these are great and worth it. Can''t remember all I''ve heard and compared it too, other AR, Polk, Infinity, Paradigm, Klipsch. but this is right up there with the best of them.

Sound, looks

none

(Review for S40) These speakers sound great. The sound is full, rich and accurate. I drive them with a Carver C1000A receiver, but they sounded good even when I drove them with an HK AVR10. I compared the sound of the S40 to that of my Allison speakers. I never thought I would be able to duplicate the performance of my Allison speakers with anything under $1,000. However, the S40 sounded better. (By comparison, the Allisons sounded too bright, whereas the S40 sounded more natural.) I highly recommend the S40 speakers.

Similar Products Used:

NHT, Allison

Crisp, Clean, Tight Bass... Excellent High end sound!

The basic fact that the stands (Spikes) aren''t that effective or snazzy as i thought they would be.... But thats a little prob...

The S50''s are the best floor standing speakers to my ears.. They are just so clean from the box open..... They absolutely took me away with such clear and again CLEAN crisp sounds. That the AR legendary brand their known for.... I recommend these speaker.s for HT and MUSIC..... They sound absolutely great in MUSIC...Recommendation that they should be birwired....As you would want the optimal sound quality out of them My current HT setup is: Fronts = AR S50 Center = AR SC2 Rear = AR S10 sub = no need ofr one in small area DVD = Philips DVD951 Receiver = Onkyo TX-DS797 (excellent reciever)

Similar Products Used:

Canton Le 109, other AR (hi res series)

Good tonal quality from lows to highs. S50's I'm writing about.

Can't criticize these babies

I bought these speakers based on reviews like the one I'm laying down. I remember the Acoustic Research speakers from many years ago and remembered how really good they sounded then and just knew they had to have gotten better. I just replaced my small Teac 500 series Amp with a Denon 3802 receiver which is more than twice the power and true high current and wow what a difference. The speakers are sounding better everyday as they mellow out and capture the true soundstage. George Benson's jazz guitar licks sound really clean and the lyrics of Holly Cole are captured and reproduced with such ambience it's scary. I truly love these speakers and would highly recommend them to anyone especially since some other reviewers said they are discontinued.

System:
Denon 3802 110 watts rms x 7 channels
AMC 8DB CD w/burr brown 24/96 DAC
Toshiba DVD
Toshiba 32" monitor
Thorens MD 145 manual turntable
AR S50 fronts w/ MIT terminator 4 speaker cable
AR S20 rears
AR PC25 center
No Sub yet

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Heresy, Bose 901

Price and SOUND!!

Low freQ, a bit " laid back ".

WOW!!
Best speakers below ( swedish price ) 900$. Recently I´ve been forced to sell my old speakers, Mirage, because of financiel reasons ( started to study at a university, hard work and no cash,,,) and was looking for a new speaker setup. I listend to a lot of midrange priced speakers and came across AR, a new brand for me ( not that big in Sweden). Holy cow! Audio Pro, a brand thats manufactured in Sweden and known for its price/performance qualities, offers some what better sound in the mids but AR beats them in every thing ells. This must be the best buy ever below 900$. One thing though, if You want something with "patryfactor 10" You should consider Cervin Vega or similar brands, these speakers are more of a nice dinner with a beatifull woman then Harley Davidson,a ton of burgers and a couple of gallons of moonshine. They do have some party qualities, but they do SO much better at other things.
I´m on my way to purchase a complete AR status series home theater system. Talk about value for money.
Almost as good as my old Mirage system, at the cost of 1/4 the price.

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Audio Pro " black diamond" ( not for sale in the US?? )

Extremely quick and musical considering the cost

Imaging is weak,not as holographic as my other choice

I continue to be amazed at the musicality of the S-40's. When I went to audition speakers I did not intend to purchase the S-40 as my main speaker, but as a rear channel for Vandersteen 2c signatures that I was going to purchase when I can afford them. But to my utter amazement the S-40's blew away the more expensive Polks that the salesman was so impressed with. I knew that I had found an inexpensive audiophile bargain. AR did their homework on this one.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, JBL

I just got these about 3 months ago. These are the Stature S-50's. Best thing i ever bought, beat other speakers i auditioned, even my uncles Mirage M-5si's with the same amplifier used. the mirages weren't that clear due to the bipolar design, but the soundstage was huge. These babies go way deep, deeper than my sub. And another plus is that you don't even need a sub for music, but for movies it would depend on taste.

Hope i don't find any in the future.

Best purchase i evermade. I see these at www.crutchfield.com for $799 us, even though that's retail price, they can be had for $445 at www.wholesaleproducts.com. Go and buy these, even if you already have good speakers. These things will most likely blow speakers away in the $1000-1500 price range. And these these look sweet, just a little under 4 feet tall and very thin.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

I just got these about 3 months ago. These are the Stature S-50's. Best thing i ever bought, beat other speakers i auditioned, even my uncles Mirage M-5si's with the same amplifier used. the mirages weren't that clear due to the bipolar design, but the soundstage was huge. These babies go way deep, deeper than my sub. And another plus is that you don't even need a sub for music, but for movies it would depend on taste.

Hope i don't find any in the future.

Best purchase i evermade. I see these at www.crutchfield.com for $799 us, even though that's retail price, they can be had for $445 at www.wholesaleproducts.com. Go and buy these, even if you already have good speakers. These things will most likely blow speakers away in the $1000-1500 price range. And these these look sweet, just a little under 4 feet tall and very thin.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

I just got these about 3 months ago. These are the Stature S-50's. Best thing i ever bought, beat other speakers i auditioned, even my uncles Mirage M-5si's with the same amplifier used. the mirages weren't that clear due to the bipolar design, but the soundstage was huge. These babies go way deep, deeper than my sub. And another plus is that you don't even need a sub for music, but for movies it would depend on taste.

Hope i don't find any in the future.

Best purchase i evermade. I see these at www.crutchfield.com for $799 us, even though that's retail price, they can be had for $445 at www.wholesaleproducts.com. Go and buy these, even if you already have good speakers. These things will most likely blow speakers away in the $1000-1500 price range. And these these look sweet, just a little under 4 feet tall and very thin.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list